Three states of the body

To make it easier to navigate in a very large variety of mental states, it is most convenient, in my opinion, to divide all this diversity into three main categories, into three main groups.

The first group is the norm. Without going into scientific formulations and discussions about what a norm is, I will characterize it simply. Norm is a state of the body in which all organs and systems function quite successfully according to the laws of nature: the brain thinks logically, the cardiovascular system, thanks to the good work of a healthy heart, as well as arterial and venous vessels, ensures high quality of blood circulation, the lungs breathe freely and easily the air with its oxygen and exhale excessive carbon dioxide, the gastrointestinal tract completely processes the food eaten, the liver reliably disinfects toxic compounds, etc. Thus , it is a question of the qualitative functioning of all organs and systems, which is carried out with the usual, under normal, unstressed mode of vital activity of the organism, providing, in particular, highly productive work and the mental apparatus – the brain.

The second group – painful deviations from the mental norm. Or, in other words, mental pathology. The term “pathology” is derived from the ancient Greek word “pathos”, meaning “suffering.” The reasons for the occurrence of all kinds of suffering in modern life is more than enough. However, we must immediately say that the developing pathological conditions only rarely reach such severity and severity, which require special psychotherapeutic assistance, especially in the hospital.

The third group is the mobilized state of the organism. It is characterized by highly active functioning of those organs and systems that are to carry out some very difficult activity. The solution of such difficult tasks requires the inclusion in the highest activity of the corresponding reserve forces of the body, which is never observed in its normal state.

Speaking about mental mobilization, it is necessary to clarify the following circumstance. Although the trigger mechanisms, which include the organism both in the pathological and in the mobilization state, as well as providing the norm, are in the mental apparatus of a person, in his brain, it is nevertheless more legitimate to speak not about purely mental, but about psychophysical states. For the “psyche” and “physics”, the brain and the body of an active person are so closely interconnected that only in rare cases can we state them, so to speak, separate functioning. For example, a boxer on the eve of this battle set himself the task of being extremely aggressive in battle. If, following such a “self-order,” his heart does not begin to beat faster, his breath does not get deeper, his muscles do not become more efficient, the amount of norepinephrine and glucose does not increase in blood, his eyesight and hearing do not increase, the activity of other systems of the body does not activate. a task that is not “supported” by the physical state of the organism simply cannot be realized. That is why the term “psychophysical” and not “mental” state of the organism will be used as a rule in the future.

In the process of the work being carried out, the idea of the “three medicines” (see the scheme) was formed: medical, designed to return the health of the sick; sanitary and hygienic, the task of which is to preserve the health of healthy people, and, finally, mobilizing. The essence of the latter is to ensure the correct (that is, not allowing “breakdowns” in the body) to mobilize those potential forces that are necessary for successful activity.
The fact that using self-hypnosis can not only soothe, but also significantly intensify the body’s activity, showed, in particular, the work of Karaganda psychiatrists (AM Svyadosch, A. Romain et al.), Performed in the late 50s . Somewhat later, the Kharkov psychiatrists K.I. Mirovsky and A. N. Shogam confirmed this very important conclusion by creating their own method of psychic self-regulation – “psycho-tonic training”, with which one can increase blood pressure in people suffering from hypotension. Thus, it was proved that self-suggestion as one of the methods of mental self-regulation can in principle be used to mobilize the potential forces of the body.

Mobilization is called the process that leads the body to a state that allows you to complete the task with maximum success. The state of mobilization is the state of optimal activity of the organism, necessary for the most successful and rational performance of the work ahead. Sometimes this activity can be on the verge of extreme efforts, and sometimes – very moderate. Consequently, the essence of mobilization is the achievement of such a level of activity that would correspond to the work being done. If the activity is greater than required, excessive, unnecessary waste of energy will occur, and the activity will proceed unnecessarily.

This is why, and therefore little success. If the level of activity is insufficient, the case, of course, also suffers.

To speak separately about mental and physical mobilization is possible only conditionally, since these processes are closely interrelated: the mental program is always realized only through physical activity. Therefore, in presenting the essence of mobilization, both mental and physical aspects of this problem will be covered.

The mobilized state of the body is composed of many, very different components related to physiological, biochemical and other processes in organs and tissues. But if, for the sake of simplicity of presentation, to reduce all the variety of processes to one, then first of all it will be necessary to talk about the activating role of the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system.